Wednesday, 11 August 2010

Tetris lyrics

A number of people have requested the lyrics for A Complete History of the Soviet Union As Told By A Humble Worker, Arranged To The Melody Of Tetris. Here they are:

To Moscow I came seeking fortune
But they’re making me work til I’m dead
The bourgeoisie have it so easy
The Tsar’s putting gold on his bread
The people of Moscow are hungry
But think what a feast there could be
If we could create a socialist state
That cared for the people like me:

I am the man who arranges the blocks
That descend upon me from up above.
They come down and I spin them around
Til they fit in the ground like hand in glove.
Sometimes it seems that to move blocks is fine
And the lines will be formed as they fall -
Then I see that I have misjudged it!
I should not have nudged it after all.
Can I have a long one please?
Why must these infernal blocks tease?

I am the man who arranges the blocks
That continue to fall from up above.
Come Muscovite! Let the workers unite!
A collective regime of peace and love.
I work so hard in arranging the blocks
But the landlord and taxman bleed me dry
But the workers will rise! We will not compromise
For we know that the old regime must die.
Long live Lenin, kill the tsar!
We salute the sickle and star!

I am the man who arranges the blocks
That continue to fall from up above.
The food on your plate now belongs to the state
A collective regime of peace and love.
I have no choice in arranging the blocks
Under Bolshevik rule, what they say goes.
The rule of the game is we all are the same
And my blocks must create unbroken rows.
Long live Stalin! He loves you!
Sing these words, or you know what he’ll do...

I am the man who arranges the blocks
That are made by the men in Kazakhstan.
They come two weeks late and they don’t tessellate
But we’re working to Stalin’s five year plan.
I am the man who arranges the tanks
That will make all the Nazis keep away
The Fuhrer is dead, and Europe is Red!
Let us point all our guns at the USA.
We shall live forever more!
We can start a nuclear war!

I am the man who arranges the blocks
That are building a highly secret base.
Hip hip hurrah for the USSR!
We are sending our men to outer space.
I work so hard in arranging the blocks
But each night I go home to my wife in tears -
What’s the point of it all, when you’re building a wall
And in front of your eyes it disappears?
Pointless work for pointless pay
This is one game I shall not play.

I am the man who arranges the blocks!
But tomorrow I think I’ll stay in bed.
The winter is cold, I’ve got plenty of gold
And I’m standing in line for a loaf of bread
Maybe we’d be better off
If we brought down Gorbachev

I am the man who arranges the blocks
That continue to fall from up above.
The markets are free! So much money for me!
Tell me, why should I care for peace and love?
The markets are free! So much money for me!
Tell me, why should I care for peace and love?
Peace and love, peace and love!

And now the wall is down, the Marxists frown
There’s foreign shops all over town
When in Red Square, well don’t despair
There’s Levi’s and McDonald’s there
The US gave us crystal meth
And Yeltsin drank himself to death
But now that Putin’s put the boot in,
Who’ll get in our way?

So we reject free enterprise
And once again the left will rise.
Prepare the flags to be unfurled
For we’re seceding from the world:
We shall regain the Georgian soil
We shall obtain the Arctic oil
We shall arrange the blocks and toil
Forever and a day.

you were dooing great on pointing out how stalin messed it up but refering to putin beeing left is just sad.as he's a right winged dictating bastard. who can say he is one without having to fear any other nation

i think throughout the song, the people arrange blocks that fall from above (obey the commands of the elite: tsar,lenin,stalin,markets) ,the final message is for building true socialism from bottom-up with peace and love, and arrange the blocks ourselves

I've just finished listening to your cd, for what?... the fifth time? And I still can't get the words for Churchill/Hitler's favourite songs! Are you planning on putting any of the other song's lyrics up?

The kids walk around the house singing it now! What have you done? They also sing about the cheeseburger. Not going to let them hear Midwife or that sheep song though!The end song is the high score music, not the game over music too.Love it!!!

The original tune is much older than Tetris!! Older than the Soviet Union, even, back to Czarist Russia. It's called Karobushka (The Peddlers), and you can see & hear it played on traditional Russian instruments in traditional Russian costumes, by the Arizona Balalaika Orchestra (which I play with) here:

http://www.youtube.com/azbalalaika#p/u/6/RDNn76v6n7U

Somebody asked for tablature - I don't have that, but I can give you sheet music - http://www.azbalalaika.org/ABCfiles/korobushka.pdf

I´ll try to describe in few words what i ve seen in your music.The rhythm follow the story,started smooth and the melody turns more frenetic along the music accord the story flows.I think i see some scenes in Dr Strangelove that u used in your video,mainly one you jump from a warhead,pretty good.

The Stalin's socialism,thx god,ended a long time ago,what really happened with Russia along these recent liberalization ,who thinks the free market economy helped Russia?In the game over,it was suggested a new arrange in blocks,what's mean?The true socialism ,like the utopic socialism?Or a reworded Stalinist socialism?

My respect to you guys! It's the first time, that I see the people from abroad, who could catch all that comiс and drama of Russia's history. That's really awesome! Thank you!And the main hero really has something russian in his appearance=)

This was amazing. I especially liked the visual references to the beginning of Moulin Rogue (at the beginning) and Dr Strangelove ('We can start a nuclear war'), as well as the coda-grab ('Game Over') of 'Piggies' from 'The White Album'. You guys rule!

My friends and I walk around school singing this! I have almost the whole thing memorized from hearing it so much and I love it!!! Thanks for giving me a history of the Soviet Union. It actually has come in handy in history class! Great job!

First heard this song on Mitch Benn's Comedy Podcast and I'm hooked on this song, I listen to it at least once/twice a day because it's stuck in my head, and now I've seen your YouTube video it just increases my love for this song.

I love this song. I have a part time job at a company (I don't want to say which) where I load trucks with boxes. I've modified your lyrics to be about my work, and I sing it while I load. Gets me through the night haha.

The use of Tetris is really appropriate. Tetris speaks to something deep in human nature and is a total product of the Soviet Union, this article explains why Tetris couldn't have been made anywhere else: http://supergametheory.wordpress.com/2011/12/27/tetris-and-the-fall-of-the-soviet-union/